Palo Alto Weekly 01.14.2011 - Section 1

Section 1 of the January 14, 2011 edition of the Palo Alto Weekly

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City considers
merging safety
services
Page 3
w w w.PaloA ltoOnline.com
Looking for art in all
the public places
page 13
Spectrum 10
Obituaries 12
Movies 19
ShopTalk 24
N Arts
Puzzles 40
A tree â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;growsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Palo Alto
N Sports Stanford football hires head coach
N Home Elegant, edible gardening
Page 16
Page 26
Page 29
A SEASON FOR THE AGES
2011 DISCOVER
ORANGE BOWL CHAMPIONS
FIRST-EVER
ORANGE BOWL VICTORY
FIRST-EVER
12-1 SEASON
FIRST-EVER
TOP 5 BCS FINISH
Our sincere thanks to Stanford Football fans everywhere.
Your passion, pride and exuberance inspired the 2010 Cardinal to new heights.
Your support, along with this very special season, will be remembered forever.
2011 HOME SCHEDULE
Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have Season Tickets? Make your 2011 Season Tickets deposit now
by calling 1-800-STANFORD or online at GOSTANFORD.COM
Page 2Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;
Upfront
GOAL $275,000
See whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
contributed to the
Holiday Fund
on page 20
As of Jan. 13
422 donors
$245,430
with matching
funds
Donate online at
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Local news, information and analysis
Fearful residents press city for emergency alerts
Recent armed robberies prompt call for greater use
of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s notification system
by Sue Dremann
H
ow often is too often to be
notified of crime happening
in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighborhood?
In the wake of a string of armed
robberies in Palo Alto, residents are
saying thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no such thing as too
much information.
The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emergency-alert system, AlertSCC, issues a recorded
phone message, e-mail or text message regarding crises such as power outages and impending floods.
Palo Alto police say they want to
reserve the alert system for signifi-
cant events so that people wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t become complacent by receiving too
many calls.
But residents of neighborhoods
hit by the recent armed robberies
argue the system was designed
for notifications about dangerous
suspects who could be lurking in
the neighborhood after a violent
crime.
The system is already used for
non-emergencies. It alerted residents on Jan. 7 to street closures
before the following dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parade
downtown for Palo Alto High
School athletes.
Around midnight following the
parade, a robber pointed a gun at
a woman and stole her purse in
the driveway of her Duveneck/St.
Francis neighborhood home near
Oregon Expressway.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Neighbors seem not to have
received any emergency notification that this was occurring or had
occurred â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and that an armed as-
sailant was at large. And this, after
years of work to institute an emergency alerting system in the first
place,â&#x20AC;? Karen White, president of
the Duveneck/St. Francis Neighborhood Association, said.
But Police Chief Dennis Burns
said the robber fled the area immediately after committing the
crime.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the community would
(continued on page 7)
CITY HALL
Palo Alto
explores
merging
services
Three other city managers
want to study consolidating
public-safety functions
by Gennady Sheyner
P
(continued on page 8)
(continued on page 9)
Veronica Weber
fewer lanes could hurt business
and force small shops to close. The
plan does not consider the negative
impact of construction and lane reductions on their livelihoods, they
said.
California Avenue could lose
anchor store Mollie Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market, one of its owners, David Bennett, warned in a petition opposing
the proposed lane reductions and
signed by 30 residents and businesses.
The reduction to one lane each
direction â&#x20AC;&#x153;would put the market in
a difficult position with reduced
access. Fortunately for Mollie
alo Alto, Mountain View, Los
Altos and Sunnyvale city managers are considering merging
their emergency-dispatch centers, record-management facilities and fireprevention services to save money
during lean times.
But possible consolidations would
involve specific services, not a
wholesale merger of fire, police or
other departments.
The Palo Alto City Council Tuesday night will consider a resolution
instructing City Manager James
Keene to explore sharing equipment
and emergency services with Palo
Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Peninsula neighbors. The
other three cities are expected to
consider similar resolutions, Keene
said Wednesday in an interview with
the Weekly.
The push toward consolidation of
some services gathered steam last
year as Palo Alto, Mountain View
and Los Altos all began to upgrade
their respective dispatch operations,
Keene said. He said the city managers agreed to purchase the same
communication systems, use the
same kind of software and broadcast
in the same megahertz cycle.
Once the upgrades are completed,
a communication center from each
city will have the ability to coordinate dispatch across city lines. Keene
said the effort could also reduce
overtime costs by enabling cities to
help each other cope with particularly busy periods.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have the opportunity to po-
Home-grown brilliance
Gunn High School produced four Intel Science semifinalists this year, including (from left) Audrey Ho, Andrew Liu, Brian Zhang and Youyang
Gu. Grace Davis (far left), Intelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s California state manager of corporate affairs, presented each student with a check for $1,000. Intel will next
narrow the pool of 300 semifinalists to 40 finalists, who will present their projects in March. Read the full story online at PaloAltoOnline.com.
LAND USE
Businesses worried over
California Avenue plan
Commission recommends reducing number of lanes
from four to two in Palo Alto retail district
by Sue Dremann
A
controversial street plan thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
prompted one California Avenue anchor-store owner to
warn he might close up shop was
endorsed Wednesday night by the
cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Planning and Transportation
Commission.
T he
Ca l ifor n ia
Avenue
Streetscape Project would narrow
the business districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main street
from four to two lanes. The commission unanimously recommended approval of an environmental
â&#x20AC;&#x153;negative declaration,â&#x20AC;? required
under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The declaration allows the city to move the
project forward without a cumbersome and expensive environmental
review.
If the City Council agrees with
the commission, the project would
receive a $1,175,200 Santa Clara
Valley Transportation Authority
grant for transit-corridor improvements, including pedestrian and bicycle access. Palo Alto would add
$550,000 in matching funds.
But some business owners fear
*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;U Page 3
Upfront
PUBLISHER
William S. Johnson
EDITORIAL
Jay Thorwaldson, Editor
Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor
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Keith Peters, Sports Editor
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Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers
Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor
Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant
Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer
Dale Bentson, Colin Becht,
Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell,
Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Kevin Kirby,
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Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors
Sarah Trauben, Zohra Ashpari Editorial Interns
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ADVERTISING
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Real Estate Advertising Sales
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Inside Advertising Sales
Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst.
Diane Martin, Real Estate Advertising Assistants
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EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES
Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator
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BUSINESS
Penelope Ng, Payroll & Benefits Manager
Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Susie Ochoa,
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ADMINISTRATION
Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher
& Promotions Director
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EMBARCADERO MEDIA
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Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO
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Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistants
Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo,
Computer System Associates
Great homes are as different
as the people who live in them.
Whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re building a new home
or remodeling, expect excellence
from De Mattei.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;
450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306
(650) 326-8210
If it can make people talk, then itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
good.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Terry Acebo Davis, chair of the Palo Alto
Public Art Commission, on what makes art in public
places worthwhile. See story on page 13.
Around Town
LESSONS LEARNED ... Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been
more than a year since Palo Alto
officials hastily axed 63 holly
oaks on California Avenue, but
the fallen trees continue to cast
a long shadow over the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
planning process. So when city
officials began planning for a
removal of 10 ailing eucalyptus
trees at Eleanor Pardee Park,
they held countless public hearings, received input from at least
three different arborists and had
a stack of reports on hand when
they brought their proposal to the
City Council this week. But some
members of the City Council felt
staff may have learned the lessons from the California Avenue
fiasco a little too well. The council
praised staffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s massive outreach
campaign but rejected its recommendations to remove the trees
in two phases, choosing instead
to fell them in one swoop. Several council members also said
they were concerned that after
California Avenue, staff has become a bit too reticent in its proposals. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe the California
Avenue situation has caused our
staff to be more adverse to taking clear but controversial positions in their recommendations,â&#x20AC;?
Councilman Pat Burt said.
Councilman Larry Klein agreed
and said the Pardee Park operation had been â&#x20AC;&#x153;overly influencedâ&#x20AC;?
by California Avenue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;California
Avenue was a failure of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
own process,â&#x20AC;? Klein said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is
a triumph of process.â&#x20AC;?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT ... Palo
Alto residents havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always
been on the same page when it
comes to library improvements.
Though the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s massive
library-reconstruction program
remains on track, some residents
have criticized recent proposals to reduce shelf space at the
new libraries and to make more
room for e-books, possibly at
the expense of traditional books.
This week, the council extended
a program that should give every
bookworm a reason to smile.
The council agreed to sign up
for two more years of LINK+, a
program that allows the library
system to share its collection
with academic and public libraries throughout California and Nevada. Users can request books
from other libraries through the
library systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s catalogue and
have the books delivered to a
local branch within days. According to report prepared by
Assistant Library Director Cornelia Van Aken, LINK+ gives users
access to more than 18 million
volumes. The cost of the twoyear program will be $200,000,
with up to $100,000 contributed
by the nonprofit group Friends
of the Palo Alto Library. The city
joined the program in 2008.
PLANT A TREE ... A Palo Alto
nonprofit dedicated to promoting and protecting trees on city
streets will team up with Mayor
Sid Espinosa this Thursday plant
a large Cedar of Lebanon tree
at the entrance of the Cultural
Arts Hall at the Oshman Family
Jewish Community Center. The
event, sponsored by Canopy,
combines the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish Festival of
Treesâ&#x20AC;? with the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual
Mayoral Tree Planting. The free
event will take place at 5:15 p.m.
on Jan. 20 near East Charleston
Road and San Antonio Road.
It will be followed by a reception from 5:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Those planning to attend are
asked to call 650-964-6110 to
RSVP.
DIRTY BUSINESS ... Note to
dog owners who let their pooches do their dirty business at Duveneck Elementary School: The
neighborhood is watching you.
Duveneck Principal John Lents,
sent a letter to the neighborhood last week seeking to enlist
support and raise awareness
about an â&#x20AC;&#x153;issue important to our
children.â&#x20AC;? Lents wrote in his letter
that the school has been relying
on dog owners to pick up their
dogsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; deposits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unfortunately,
weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve recently been subject to
multiple piles of dog waste left
on the field ... only to learn of
them after theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been stepped
in, and/or requiring us to put the
field off-limits until we can do a
thorough search for additional
waste.â&#x20AC;? He also wrote that leaving dog waste on school property is both disrespectful and illegal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, as you utilize our school
grounds for your own pleasure,
please make sure you leave them
clean and pleasurable for the
next community member(s).â&#x20AC;? N
Upfront
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Intense text messages
dominate Zumot trial
Cell-phone records reveal turbulent relationship between
Bulos Zumot and his slain girlfriend, Jennifer Schipsi
by Gennady Sheyner
D
uring their turbulent two-year
relationship, Bulos Zumot and
Jennifer Schipsi exchanged
hundreds of text messages, including ones containing threats, insults
and lengthy diatribes.
This week, the jury in Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
arson-and-murder trial saw a large
sample of the messages, including
ones the couple exchanged on Oct. 15,
2009, the day a Palo Alto firefighter
discovered Schipsiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body in the Addison Avenue cottage the two shared.
The messages dominated the second
week of Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trial. These included
the hysterical, insulting messages
Schipsi sent Zumot as she was walking home alone from Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday
party the night before the fire.
They also included a message Zumot sent Schipsi about a week before her death, telling her he had just
missed several calls from the San Jose
Police Department â&#x20AC;&#x201D; calls that phone
records show were actually made by
Schipsi, pretending to be the police.
Prosecution and defense attorneys
also sparred this week over which
text messages should be shown to
the jury. Santa Clara County Deputy
District Attorney Charles Gillingham
requested Tuesday morning that about
20 messages found on Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone
be excised from evidence. These include ones Zumot exchanged with
Schipsiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, Jamie Schipsi, and
with his friend, Joseph Martinez, a
deputy sheriff at Monterey County
Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office.
The messages between Zumot and
Jamie Schipsi were exchanged on
Oct. 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 36th birthday.
She wished him a happy birthday,
told him to â&#x20AC;&#x153;smile all dayâ&#x20AC;? and signed
off as â&#x20AC;&#x153;mom.â&#x20AC;? Zumot wrote in his
response that Jennifer had made it
his best birthday ever and told Jamie
Schipsi of plans to propose to Jennifer
the following weekend.
Gillingham requested that about
20 messages be excised as â&#x20AC;&#x153;hearsayâ&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which means they cannot be introduced into evidence unless Zumot
testifies in his own defense.
But Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attorney, Mark Geragos, said he was previously led to
believe that all messages would be
admitted into evidence and criticized
what he called the â&#x20AC;&#x153;dilatory tacticsâ&#x20AC;?
of the prosecution. He argued that
showing only certain messages will
give the jury a â&#x20AC;&#x153;skewed view of what
has transpired.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Surely, the jury should have all
the messages, rather than the cherrypicked ones,â&#x20AC;? Geragos told Judge David Cena.
Cena ultimately sided with the
prosecution.
Geragos also went on the offensive Monday afternoon, when Jaber
Al Suwaidi, a friend of the couple,
testified that he detected Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
writing style in a message he received from Schipsiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone on the
afternoon of the fire. Mark Geragos
heatedly disputed Al Suwaidiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s professed ability to recognize the authors by the grammar in the texts, at
one point derisively referring to Al
Suwaidiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;magical powers.â&#x20AC;?
The disputed message stated that
Zumot wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mad at Al Suwaidi
for missing his birthday the previous
night (he was â&#x20AC;&#x153;just drunkâ&#x20AC;?). Al Suwaidi immediately suspected it was
Zumot, not Schipsi, who wrote it.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not her writing,â&#x20AC;? Al Suwaidi
testified.
He said Schipsiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s messages tend to
be less formal than Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and that
she frequently uses popular abbreviations such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;LOLâ&#x20AC;? (for â&#x20AC;&#x153;laughing
out loudâ&#x20AC;?).
Al Suwaidi acknowledged that the
person sending the Oct. 15 message
from Schipsiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone could have
been anyone but said that in his
opinion it was Zumot.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you have them as friends, you
know,â&#x20AC;? Al Suwaidi said.
Al Suwaidi also testified that Schipsi called him on the night of Oct. 14,
2009. Schipsi was breathing heavily
and crying as she walked home alone
from the Zumotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s downtown business,
Da Hookah Spot. She also told Al Suwaidi that Zumot had â&#x20AC;&#x153;humiliated
herâ&#x20AC;? so she left.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;She said sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done and that she
canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t handle it anymore,â&#x20AC;? Al Suwaidi
testified.
The jury saw dozens of other text
messages on Tuesday and Wednesday, when Palo Alto Sgt. Cornelius
Maloney painstakingly read out the
texts that Zumot and Schipsi had
exchanged in the days leading up to
Schipsiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death. These included one
on Oct. 14 in which Schipsi, walking
home from Da Hookah Spot, wrote to
Zumot, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stay the f--- away so I can regain my happiness and satisfaction.â&#x20AC;?
The messages portray Schipsi
becoming increasingly furious at
Zumot.
A little after 1 a.m., she sent him
a series of messages demanding that
he pay her money that she said he
owed her for damaging her car and
other belongings. She also told him
not ever to threaten her again or she
â&#x20AC;&#x153;will seek ultimate justice.â&#x20AC;?
She also wrote that she would go to
the police if he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay her back by
11 a.m. the following day.
This jury also learned Wednesday
about the five â&#x20AC;&#x153;spoof callsâ&#x20AC;? that Schipsi allegedly made to Zumot on Oct. 8,
in which she masked her phone number and made it seem like the calls
were coming from the Palo Alto and
San Jose police departments.
The trial will be in recess the
week of Jan. 17 and will resume on
Jan. 24. N
Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: Follow the trial
on Twitter. Go to twitter.com/#!/
paw_court.
Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner
can be e-mailed at gsheyner@
paweekly.com.
656 Lytton Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 617-7384
INDEPENDENT SUBSIDIZED SENIOR HOUSING WAITING LIST TO OPEN MONDAY,
JANUARY 24TH, 2011 THROUGH FRIDAY, JANUARY 28TH, 2011.
Lytton Gardens is pleased to announce the opening of our Single & Couple Waiting Lists for our Lytton I
and Lytton II Facilities.
Lytton Gardens offers subsidized housing for extremely low and very low-income seniors and mobility
impaired applicants.
TO BE ELIGIBLE:
Single and couple applicants one must be 62 years of age or older, or 18 years of age or older and
mobility impaired.
Maximum annual income for single applicant must be less than $36,250.00
Maximum annual income for couple applicants must be less than $41,400.00
Rent will be 30% of your adjusted monthly income. Assets (Real Estate, CDs, Stocks, and Bonds, etc.) will
be converted to income at 2% or actual % of income.
You or a close family member *must live, or work, in the designated area of Palo Alto, Redwood City,
East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Stanford, Portola Valley, Woodside, Atherton, Mountain View, Los Altos or
Los Altos Hills.
TO APPLY:
Applications will be distributed at Lytton Gardens Senior Communities, 656 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA
94301, on January 24th, 26th, and 28th, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and on January 25th, and 27th, 2011
from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Applications must be returned by mail to Lytton Gardens, P.O. Box 51907, Palo Alto, CA 94303, no later
than February 18th, 2011. Applications postmarked after February 18th, 2011 cannot be considered and will
be returned to sender.
Selection will be made by a lottery process to determine applicantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; order on the waiting list. Names will
be chosen between March 14th, 2011 and March 18th, 2011.
Copy of your Social Security card must be attached to your application.
APPLICANTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; AUTHORIZATION AND CONSENT FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION, SECTION
214, AND HUD FORMS 9887 & 9887A, MUST BE FILLED-OUT, SIGNED AND ATTACHED TO YOUR
APPLICATION, OR WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCEPT YOUR APPLICATION.
*Family Member includes:
Grandparent, Parent, Children & Siblings.
Grandparent in Law, Parent in Law, Children in Law & Siblings in Law.
Lytton Gardens Senior Communities does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, familial status,
handicap, ancestry, medical condition, veteran status, sexual orientation, AIDS, AIDS related condition (ARC), in the admission or access
to, or treatment or employment in, its federally assisted programs and activities. Gery Yearout, Executive Director and HUD Housing
Administrator, 656 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 617-7372 has been designated to coordinate compliance with nondiscrimination
requirements contained in the Department of Housing and Urban Developmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s regulations implementing Section 504 (24 CFR Part 8
dated June 2, 1988). TDD/TYY 1-800-735-2922
S TANFORD PRESCHOOL
BILINGUAL MONTESSORI
IS NOW REGISTERING STUDENTS
â&#x20AC;˘ Mandarin Chinese and English for
children 2-6 years of age
â&#x20AC;˘ Fees include nutritious hot lunch and
professionally-taught art
and dance classes
â&#x20AC;˘ Brand new facility and learning center
4232 El Camino Real, Palo Alto â&#x20AC;˘ 650-739-3545
www.stanfordpreschool.com
Please Join Us At Our Open House
Saturday and Sunday â&#x20AC;˘ January 29th & 30th â&#x20AC;˘ 3-5 pm
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Upfront
Inspiring children
to achieve
since
News Digest
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dreamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to be celebrated Sunday, Monday
The life and message of civil-rights visionary Martin Luther King, Jr.,
will be celebrated Sunday, Jan. 16, at the Annual Community and Interfaith
Celebration, followed by a community day of service on Monday, Jan. 17
sponsored by the City of Palo Alto, the Oshman Family Jewish Community
Center and other nonprofit organizations.
The Sunday event will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the First United
Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto. The community is invited to sing along with the Interfaith Choir and a rehearsal will be held
from 1:45-2:45 p.m.
Former City Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell will serve as master of ceremonies for the event, which will also feature a discussion led by journalist
Belva Davis; performances by Eastside College Preparatory High Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
choir and the Volunteer Community Interfaith Choir; poetry recitation
by Stanford University student Victoria S. Asbury; and youth awards to
Costano Elementary School students.
On Monday, the city and the group Youth Community Service will accept donations of food and coats at Lytton Plaza on University Avenue
Monday from noon to 3 p.m. The Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto plans to be at
the plaza signing up volunteers for future service projects.
The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center will offer more than
25 volunteer opportunities Monday as part of its â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mitzvah Day.â&#x20AC;? Projects range from habitat restoration, making cat toys and dog biscuits for
homeless pets, visiting seniors, serving meals at a shelter and working on
crafts for hospitalized children to helping with the creation of a library in
Botswana.
Sign ups and information about the volunteer projects are available at
www.paloaltojcc.org.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is going to be an exciting day for Palo Alto and the broader community. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re encouraging everyone to get out there and do a service
project during the holiday weekend,â&#x20AC;? Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa said
in a press release about Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day of service.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something for everyone, so I hope to see a great mix of individuals, families, students, teachers, seniors, nonprofits, service organizations, faith-based groups, and members of the business community join me
in volunteering on this day of service.â&#x20AC;?
Jan. 17, 2011, marks the 25th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
federal holiday.
More information about the Palo Alto MLK Day of Service is available
at www.CityofPaloAlto.org.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Palo Alto Weekly staff
Two armed robberies hit Palo Alto
An armed robber stole a Palo Alto womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purse shortly after midnight Saturday, Jan. 8, just after she had parked her car in her driveway
in the 2300 block of St. Francis Drive, near Oregon Expressway, police
reported.
Just two days later, a pizza deliverer was robbed at gunpoint on Ben
Lomond Drive in the Greenmeadow neighborhood of south Palo Alto
Monday night, Palo Alto police said.
No one was injured in either instance, police reported.
In each incident, the gunman was described as a black male in his 20s,
wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Palo Alto Police Department would like to remind community
members to be aware of their surroundings at all times, especially during
the evening hours. Please report any suspicious activity to the Police Department as soon as possible,â&#x20AC;? police said in a press release.
Anyone with information can call the Palo Alto Police Department at
650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or
anonymous voice mails and text messages can be sent to 650-383-8984. N
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Palo Alto Weekly staff
Join Us for an Open House!
Friday, January 7
Wednesday, January 12
Wednesday, January 19
Wednesday, January 26
9
9
9
9
a.m.â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2
a.m.â&#x20AC;&#x201C;6
a.m.â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2
a.m.â&#x20AC;&#x201C;6
p.m.
p.m.
p.m.
p.m.
ÂŠ 2011, Barbara B. Baker
Budget cuts could mean big drop at Foothill-DeAnza
Almaden (408) 927-5771
19950 McKean Rd., San Jose
Shawnee (408) 365-9298
500 Shawnee Ln., San Jose
Harwood (408) 723-0111
4949 Harwood Rd., San Jose
Strawberry Park (408) 213-0083
730 Camina Escuela, San Jose
Berryessa (408) 998-2860
711 East Gish Rd., San Jose
Saratoga (408) 378-0444
18811 Cox Ave., Saratoga
Sunnyvale (408) 245-7170
1185 Hollenbeck Ave., Sunnyvale
MiddleďŹ eld (650) 213-8245
3880 MiddleďŹ eld Rd., Palo Alto
Newark (510) 770-1771
39600 Cedar Blvd., Newark
Ardenwood (510) 739-0300
35487 Dumbarton Ct., Newark
Because You Know the Value of Education
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The Foothill-De Anza Community College District could be forced to
serve 9 percent fewer students under the state budget proposed Monday
(Jan. 10) by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Chancellor Linda Thor said it is too early to draw firm conclusions but
that the governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed cuts to community colleges was estimated
to translate to a $10.9 million hit to her districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s $182 million operating
budget, atop $20 million in cuts sustained over the past two years.
Under formulas used by the Community College League of California,
the proposal translates to an enrollment loss of 4,000 of the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current
45,000 students. That would mean fewer course sections offered, Thor said.
The proposed cuts to Foothill-De Anza come at a time when Thor
anticipates growing demand stemming from Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed $500
million cuts each to the University of California and the California State
University systems.
The preliminary figures bandied about Monday also depend upon voter
approval this spring of tax extensions sought by Brown.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;If those are not approved, there will be additional cuts of $500 million
to the community colleges, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty devastating,â&#x20AC;? Thor said. N
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Chris Kenrick
LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines
and talk about the issues at Town Square at www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Upfront
Online This Week
These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout
the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news
or click on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Newsâ&#x20AC;? in the left, green column.
Stanford applications set another record
The number of applications for this fallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freshman class at Stanford
University â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at 34,200 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; have set another record, the university said
today. (Posted Jan. 13 at 12:33 p.m.)
California Ave. fountain voting â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;through the roofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
The second California Avenue controversy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; what kind of fountain
should replace the old, damaged one at the end of the business district
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; has generated a huge amount of community interest, according to the
city. Voting deadline is Tuesday noon. (Posted Jan. 13 at 12:29 p.m.)
Five-car pile-up in underpass stalls Oregon
Five vehicles were involved in an apparent rear-end chain-reaction
crash Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 12), resulting in traffic backups westbound. No one was injured, fire officials reported. (Posted Jan. 12 at 10:54
p.m.)
Tour bus catches fire, ties up San Antonio Road
A large tour bus filled with Japanese tourists caught fire late Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 12), blocking westbound lanes of San Antonio Road
near Charleston Road and emitting dense clouds of smoke and flames
from its engine compartment. No one was injured, Palo Alto fire and
police officials reported. (Posted Jan. 12 at 6:54 p.m.)
Simitian calls Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;grown-upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; plan
For years, state Sen. Joe Simitian has been repeating a budget mantra:
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spend less; collect more; do it now.â&#x20AC;? Gov. Jerry Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed
budget finally does that, he says. (Posted Jan. 12 at 6:45 p.m.)
Board backs Duveneck plan, even-year voting
In two rare split votes Tuesday night (Jan. 11), the Board of Education approved â&#x20AC;&#x153;conceptual designsâ&#x20AC;? for major renovations to Duveneck
School and agreed to align itself with the Palo Alto City Council by
moving its elections to even-numbered years. (Posted Jan. 12 at 12:36 a.m.)
Double â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no, make that quadruple â&#x20AC;&#x201D; trouble?
A Redwood City woman performed a rare feat recently when she
gave birth to naturally conceived quadruplets at Stanford Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Lucile Packard Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hostpital, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday
(Jan. 11). (Posted Jan. 11 at 3:41 p.m.)
Roberts blasts media accounts of his departure
Public Works Director Glenn Roberts, who retired from Palo Alto
after reaching a legal settlement with the city in October, took a bow
Monday night (Jan. 10), as well as a parting shot at newspaper accounts that he said grossly mischaracterized his departure. (Posted
Jan. 10 at 9:55 a.m.)
Brown says slash spending, keep tax hikes
Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday (Jan. 10) that he is proposing to close
the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s $25.4 billion budget gap by cutting spending by $12.5 billion and extending temporary tax increases that were enacted under the
Schwarzenegger administration. There will be huge impacts from the
cuts. (Posted Jan. 10 at 2:34 p.m.)
Eshoo to keep contact with constituents
Meeting face to face with the public is â&#x20AC;&#x153;the one of the most basic
functions relative to democracy,â&#x20AC;? U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto,
said by phone on Monday (Jan. 10). And although she will remain
cautious, the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona on Jan.
8 wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop her from meeting with her constituents, she said. (Posted
Jan. 10 at 9:56 a.m.)
Palyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state championship teams honored
It was a parade unlike any seen before in the City of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history as thousands turned out Saturday (Jan. 8) to honor the only school
in the state of California to produce two state championship teams this
past fall. Video posted on Palo Alto Online. (Posted Jan. 8 at 8:41 p.m.)
Palo Alto street-robbery suspect could face life
A 21-year-old man suspected of at least two armed street robberies
in Palo Alto could face a â&#x20AC;&#x153;three strikesâ&#x20AC;? sentence that could put him
behind bars for 25 years life if convicted, a Santa Clara County prosecutor said Friday (Jan. 7). (Posted Jan. 7 at 9:33 p.m.)
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Sign up for Express, our new daily e-edition.
Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.
Emergency
(continued from page 3)
have been upset with us if we
had sent out a CANS Alert (now
AlertSCC) given the hour of the
incident. Also, since the suspect
was no longer in the area there was
no urgency to unnecessarily wake
folks up,â&#x20AC;? Burns wrote in an e-mail
to the Weekly.
Police also issued a press release
regarding the robbery before the
end of the midnight shift, and the
Weekly posted it on its PaloAltoOnline website at 7:34 a.m. on
Saturday morning, he said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to inform the public about what is going on in
their neighborhood; however, the
AlertSCC is something that we
want to use for significant issues
where there is an immediate lifesafety issue or there is a significant
disruption to an area. We are concerned that if we use the system too
often we can desensitize the community members,â&#x20AC;? he said.
He added that there is no addi-
tional cost to the city when sending
a notification.
Police spokeswoman Lt. Sandra
Brown on Thursday echoed Burnsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
sentiments that the system should
not be over used.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want to wake you up at 3 in the
morning if your neighborhood is on
fire, not at 2:30 if a robbery occurs
several blocks away,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Brown has sent out 14 press releases related to the robberies, she
said.
Heather Galanis, a longtime
resident of Triple El, an enclave
of 58 Eichler-style homes north of
Oregon Expressway where a robbery occurred in December, said
the number of incidents that rise to
the level of an alert have been few
over the years.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;In all of the years that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lived
here, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve only had something
like that happen twice. I remember a couple of decades ago when
a young man broke into a home,
helicopters got up there with loud
speakers. People came out of their
homes. (Some residents) ran down
the street and found him behind a
bush,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Looking for something to do?
Galanis said she thinks the city
should interview residents before
saying they will become complacent.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see to see some proof
of that,â&#x20AC;? she said.
The Midtown neighborhood
where Annette Glanckopf lives has
also been hit by violent crime.
She said she has met twice with
police about using AlertSCC for
incidents and this week called for
more discussion. Glanckopf is chair
of the Palo Alto Neighborhoods
(PAN) emergency-preparedness
committee.
She said Burns makes a good
argument for not using the system to wake people in the middle
of the night, but she doubts alerts
about robberies would desensitize
people.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;That type of incident is exactly
what we wantâ&#x20AC;? the system to be activated for, she said.
Burns and Brown said the department is working on outreach
and some technology tools and is
exploring various social media. A
community meeting is planned for
Thursday, Jan. 20. N
Staff Writer Sue Dremann
can be e-mailed at sdremann@
paweekly.com.
Check out the Weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Community Calendar
for the Midpeninsula.
TALK ABOUT IT
Instantly ďŹ nd out what events are going on in your city!
Under what circumstances would you
like to receive an alert from the City of
Palo Alto? Share your opinion on Town
Square, the community discussion forum on Palo Alto Online.
Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/calendar
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
1
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Registration and light breakfast at 9:15 am
Harrell Remodeling Design Center
Call us or go on line to register today.
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Upfront
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K-12 Classes are 2 hours on Saturdays.
February 5th - June 4th
Please contact the Program Director, Thomas Lee, with
any questions or requests:
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HWA Shin Chinese School
Located at Jordan Middle School
750 N. California Ave., Palo Alto
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L U C I L E PA C K A R D
California Ave.
(continued from page 3)
Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, we are the owners of the
property and are not subject to any
third-party lease if our business
goes below the point of necessity.
Our plans would be to develop the
property to a different use than a
supermarket,â&#x20AC;? he wrote.
Earlier on Wednesday, before
the commission hearing, Tony
Montooth, owner of Antonioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nut
House, said his biggest concern is
parking. Parking is already at capacity during lunch hour and many
businesses donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have rear entranc-
C H I L D R E N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S H O S P I TA L
es for deliveries, he said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Traffic will stop in the middle
of the street. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to stop
dead,â&#x20AC;? he said.
But Jaime Rodriguez, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
chief transportation official, said
loading zones have been figured
into the plan, and alleys off California are also to be used for deliveries.
The traffic study determined that
street could be used by 560 vehicles
per hour â&#x20AC;&#x201D; down from the current
maximum 1,360 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with traffic
slowing by about two to three seconds per vehicle if the number of
lanes is reduced. But Rodriguez
said even with that reduction, the
amount of traffic that would use
California Avenue would still be
well below the capacity the street
could handle without congestion.
Montooth and others said construction is another major concern.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have mixed emotions. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love
to beautify California Avenue, but
at what expense? During construction, it would really hurt, especially in this economy.â&#x20AC;?
Jessica Roth, whose family has
owned the European Cobblery for
four generations, is worried.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;When they were redoing the
sewer lines it was really hard on
our business. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been episode after episode (of construction).
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Six months of construction is
going to just kill my business â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
CityView
A round-up of
Palo Alto government action this week
City Council (Jan. 10)
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Lucile Packard Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital offers classes and seminars designed
to foster good health and enhance the lives of parents and children.
PEDIATRIC WEIGHT CONTROL PROGRAM
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Board of Education (Jan. 11)
Duveneck construction: The board approved â&#x20AC;&#x153;conceptual designsâ&#x20AC;? for a $10.56 million plan to build new classroom buildings and make other renovations at Duveneck.
Yes: Caswell, Tom, Townsend No: Klausner, Mitchell
Election timing: The board voted to align itself with city, state and federal balloting by moving its elections to even-numbered years. Yes: Klausner, Mitchell, Tom,
Townsend
No: Caswell
Planning and Transportation Commission
(Jan. 12)
California Avenue: The commission recommended approving the proposed
streetscape improvements for California Avenue, including a proposal to change the
road from four lanes to two. Yes: Unanimous
Utilities Advisory Commission (Jan. 12)
Water plan: The commission discussed and approved the Water Shortage Implementation Plan. Yes: Unanimous
Gas efficiency: The commission recommended approving the proposed Ten-Year
Gas Efficiency Goals, which include reduction of gas usage by 5.5 percent by 2020.
Yes: Berry, Cook, Eglash, Foster, Keller, Waldfogel No: Melton
LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines
and talk about the issues at Town Square at www.PaloAltoOnline.com
+()/
(+(/57:330<33&#
ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TIME TO TALK ABOUT EATING DISORDERS AND THE ATHLETE:
DISPELLING THE MYTHS AND FINDING THE FACTS
Pardee Park: The council voted to remove all the eucalyptus trees at Eleanor Pardee
Park at the same time, rather than in phases as staff had proposed. Yes: Burt, Espinosa, Holman, Klein, Price, Scharff, Schmid, Yeh No: Shepherd
Roberts: The council passed a resolution of appreciation for retired Public Works
Director Glenn Roberts. Yes: Unanimous
*+(/
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""983:567933%(,)*---"$("&%(*%()*(%(%*$
#%($%(#*%$%$**#)"%*%$)$)%(*)$%*(%+())
LU C I L E PA C K A R D
C H I L D R E Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S
H O S P I T A L
V I S I T W W W. L P C H . O R G TO S I G N U P F O R C L A S S E S
Page 8Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;
Public Agenda
A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week
CITY COUNCIL ... The City Council plans to hold a closed session to
discuss labor negotiations. The council also scheduled to discuss the annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments survey, adopt the Energy Risk
Management Policy, and consider a resolution to share services with
Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Los Altos. The closed session is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18. Regular meeting will follow at 7:30 p.m.
or as soon as possible thereafter in the Council Chambers at City Hall
(250 Hamilton Ave.).
HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The board is tentatively scheduled to
meet at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, in the Council Chambers at City Hall
(250 Hamilton Ave.).
ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to review 524
Hamilton Ave., a request by Steve Reller of R&M Properties for a review
of a proposed 10,818-square-foot, mixed-use, three-story building with
commercial office on the first and second floors and a residential unit on
the third floor. The meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 20,
in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).
PUBLIC ART COMMISSION ... The commission plans to select the
design for the California Avenue fountain project. The commission also
plans to discuss a temporary installation by artist Patrick Dougherty, the
recent installation of a memorial sculpture to Bill Bliss and an update on
the status of the Mitchell Park public art projects. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, in the Council Chambers at City Hall
(250 Hamilton Ave.).
Upfront
just kill my business,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Curtis Williams, director of
planning and community environment, said staff would work out a
plan to limit construction impacts
on businesses, such as phasing the
work and making sure entrances
remain clear.
Roth said she worries that lane
reductions would cause backups
and that would turn off people
traveling up El Camino who might
intend to shop on California.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;People going by will have a bad
thought in their heads: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;That street
is a mess.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; I want people to come
to my street. It just does not make
sense to me,â&#x20AC;? she said.
But a few business owners said they
just want the street to look better.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see why changing from
two lanes to one will make a traffic problem, especially if there
is more parking. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see that
many cars,â&#x20AC;? Josephine Montoya,
owner of Montoya Jewelers, said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;What theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re saying is fine with
me â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to make the street more attractive.â&#x20AC;?
Despite businessesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fears, Commissioner Samir Tuma said he â&#x20AC;&#x153;did
not see any data that supports traffic
congestion or hazards to bicycles.â&#x20AC;?
Vice Chair Lee Lippert said
street improvements in Menlo Park
enticed several Stanford Shopping
Center businesses to move to Santa
Cruz Avenue.
He also did not agree that narrowing the lanes would clog
California with traffic from cars
looking for parking spots, buses
or delivery trucks. A traffic study
found that California has about one
third or less the traffic volume of
other area retail districts. (5,280
vehicles per day compared to
18,700 for University Avenue and
15,445 for Santa Cruz).
Tommy Fehrenbach, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
economic development manager,
said the plan would add parking
and create a sense of place, making the area more attractive and
improving business. Seventeen
additional diagonal parking spaces would be added and 75 or more
bicycle parking spaces would be
added, according to Rodriguez.
Residents on Wednesday night
said they support the changes and
dismissed the four-lane road as a
throwback to the 1950s.
Roger Carpenter and Ted Black,
residents of the adjacent Evergreen
Park neighborhood, pointed to retail districts where lane reductions
have taken place, such as Castro
Street in Mountain View and Santa
Cruz Avenue. They are â&#x20AC;&#x153;great places and highly trafficked. It will be
great for business,â&#x20AC;? Black said.
The commissioners are concurrently reviewing the broader California Avenue Area Plan, and they
wanted to know if the traffic study
included any impacts of those eventual developments, which could include high-density housing.
Julie Caporgno, chief planning
and transportation official, said
staff doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t anticipate that any
future development would have a
significant impact on traffic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Any
residences that go in there would
be transit-oriented,â&#x20AC;? she said. N
Staff Writer SueDremann
can be e-mailed at sdremann@
paweekly.com.
Merger
(continued from page 3)
tentially back each other up,â&#x20AC;? Keene
said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all on the same system,
even if not on the same space.â&#x20AC;?
Then the city managers decided to
take collaboration one step further.
Keene said he began to have regular
conversations with Kevin Duggan
and Doug Schmitz, the city managers of Mountain View and Los
Altos, respectively. Sunnyvale City
Manager Gary Luebbers later joined
the discussions.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once we had that, what I thought
and what the other city managers
thought was that in these times weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve
got to be exploring any opportunities
we have for shared services,â&#x20AC;? Keene
said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Should we take it to the next level and at least potentially start to look
TALK ABOUT IT
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Should the City of Palo Alto consolidate
services with neighboring municipalities? Share your thoughts on the topic
on Town Square, the community discussion forum on Palo Alto Online.
at bricks-and-mortar consolidation?â&#x20AC;?
Talk of merged emergency operations isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t new to Palo Alto. In the
last two years, as the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tax revenues plunged, Keene and the council have occasionally talked about
regionalization as a possible way to
cut costs.
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Should we take it to
the next level and at
least potentially start
to look at bricks-andmortar consolidation?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;James Keene,
Palo Alto city manager
The proposed resolution, Keene
said, is a way to â&#x20AC;&#x153;publicly announceâ&#x20AC;?
that consolidation of services is an
option that is now being seriously
explored.
The resolution states that each of
the four cities currently has its own
public-safety communications center
and that the cities â&#x20AC;&#x153;wish to further
explore the possibility and feasibil-
PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL
CIVIC CENTER 250 HAMILTON AVENUE
BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1
CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT
ACCESS CHANNEL 26
THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS.
THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING
LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE
BELOW WEBPAGE:
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agenda/council.asp
(TENTATIVE) AGENDA â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C; COUNCIL CHAMBERS
DUE TO THE MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr. BIRTHDAY HOLIDAY THE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011
HAS BEEN CANCELLED
(TENTATIVE) SPECIAL COUNCIL AGENDACOUNCIL CHAMBERS
JANUARY 18, 2011 - 6:00 PM
1.
Closed Session: Labor
7:30 PM or as soon as possible thereafter
2.
Study Session: Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA)
Report
CONSENT CALENDAR
3.
Budget Amendment Ordinance for Replanting of Trees at Eleanor
Pardee Park
4.
Approval of an Exchange Agreement and Quit Claim Deed to
Secure and Maintain a Public Access Road to the Former Mayfield
Mall Site at 200 San Antonio Road
5.
Recommendation to Refer the Percent for Art Policy and Procedure
to the Policy and Services Committee
6.
Approval of a Resolution Shared Services
7.
Approval of a Contract to Provide Community Shuttle Service for
the Crosstown Shuttle Route and Amendment to the Peninsula
Corridor Joint Powers Board Agreement
ACTION ITEM
8.
Adoption of the Energy Risk Management Policy
(TENTATIVE) SPECIAL COUNCIL AGENDA-BAYLANDS
INTERPRETIVE CENTER
JANUARY 22, 2011 - 9:00 AM
1.
Council Retreat
Introducing
Good for Business. Good for You.
Good for the Community.
ityâ&#x20AC;? of consolidating these centers.
The resolution also states that
the city managers have discussed
consolidating centralized records
management, evidence facilities, office or field equipment, emergency
planning, arson investigation and
fire prevention. The council resolution would endorse this exploration
of coordination opportunities.
The resolution also directs Keene
to include in next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget,
which starts July 1, funds for an
â&#x20AC;&#x153;independent study of a joint publicsafety communications center.â&#x20AC;?
The cities already cooperate on a
variety of services, including SWAT
teams, solid-waste facilities and animal services, Keeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report notes.
He said the managersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; decision to
pursue more consolidation came
â&#x20AC;&#x153;partly because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the same
geographical area and partly because
we have experience sharing different
services.â&#x20AC;?
He also emphasized that the proposed resolution is not binding on
the cities.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We just wanted to start the conversation,â&#x20AC;? Keene said. N
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
your
story?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Stories about Palo
Alto, as told by
local residents as
part of the Palo Alto
Story Project, are
now posted on
the Internet.
Watch them at
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
NOTICE OF VACANCIES ON THE
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
FOR TWO TERMS ENDING
MARCH 31, 2014
(Terms of Ezran and Savage)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council is seeking
applications for the Human Relations Commission from
persons interested in serving in one of two terms ending
March 31, 2014.
Eligibility Requirements: Composed of seven members who
are not Council Members, ofďŹ cers or employees of the City,
who are residents of the City, and who shall be appointed by
the Council. Regular meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the
second Thursday of each month.
Duties: The Human Relations Commission has the discretion
to act with respect to any human relations matter when
the Commission ďŹ nds that any person or group does not
beneďŹ t fully from public or private opportunities or resources
in the community, or is unfairly or differently treated due to
factors of concern to the Commission: a) public or private
opportunities or resources in the community include, but are
not limited to, those associated with ownership and rental
of housing, employment, education and governmental
services and beneďŹ ts; and b) factors of concern to the
Commission include, but are not limited to, socioeconomic
class or status, physical condition or handicap, married
or unmarried state, emotional condition, intellectual ability,
age, sex, sexual preference, race, cultural characteristics,
ethnic background, ancestry, citizenship, and religious,
conscientious or philosophical belief. The Commission shall
conduct such studies and undertake such responsibilities as
the Council may direct.
Application forms and appointment information are available
in the City Clerkâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s OfďŹ ce, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto
(650) 329-2571 or may be obtained on the website at http://
www.cityofpaloalto.org.
Deadline for receipt of applications in the City Clerkâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s OfďŹ ce
is 5:00 p.m., January 28, 2011. If one of the incumbents
does not apply, the deadline will be extended until 5:30 p.m.
on February 2, 2011.
DONNA J. GRIDER
City Clerk
MEMBERS MUST BE PALO ALTO RESIDENTS.
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Editorial
New state budget: a
hard dose of reality
At last, a governor tackles the core issue of our time:
balancing cuts with extended tax revenues
to get state out of a deep hole
C
aliforniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beleaguered social network and system of higher education â&#x20AC;&#x201D; beset by years of slashed budgets â&#x20AC;&#x201D; are about to get
whacked again by Gov. Jerry Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed budget, released
this week. It is a dose of hard, necessary reality.
Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposal is to cut $12.5 billion from programs and raise
$12 billion in new revenues by continuing taxes due to expire.
It is a Draconian budget made necessary by years of overspending in the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, and before, and the
Great Recession that started in 2001.
There will be much pain in the implementation of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
$84.6 billion general fund budget, with jobs lost and full programs
cut that provide all types of social and other services. State workers
not covered by collective-bargaining contracts will face up to 10
percent cuts in take-home salaries.
Those individual hardships will be vastly overshadowed by cuts
of $1.7 billion to Medi-Cal, $1.5 billion to welfare-to-work, and
$750 million to developmental services.
Yet the hardest-to-bear impacts in the long term are in the field
of education, which comprises roughly half the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general-fund
budget. The state colleges and university systems will get hit with
$500 million each in cuts, further undermining Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already
slashed educational system.
Lower grades will be spared for now, funded at last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s levels
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but that is contingent on voter approval of higher taxes in a
special election this spring.
But in between are the two-year community colleges scattered
throughout the state, serving students of all types, from recent
high-school graduates â&#x20AC;&#x201D; some aiming for jobs and some for higher
education â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to adults seeking career retraining during desperate
economic times.
As a kind of microcosm for higher-education statewide, the
magnitude of the cuts has begun to hit home at the Foothill-De
Anza Community College District. Chancellor Linda Thor reports
that of the $400 million cut faced by community colleges, FoothillDe Anzaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share appears to be about $10.5 million on an annual
budget of $180 million. That is on top of $20 million in cuts made
in the past two years, and translates to being able to serve about
4,400 fewer students, nearly 10 percent of the current 45,000. Fees
would rise from $780 to $1,080.
It could get worse, she said. If voters fail to approve tax
extensions this spring community colleges could face a
â&#x20AC;&#x153;devastatingâ&#x20AC;? additional $500 million in cuts
State Sen. Joe Simitian says Brown at last has presented â&#x20AC;&#x153;a
serious grown-up budget proposal of the kind we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen for
seven yearsâ&#x20AC;? under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Simitian has long had a mantra about what to do about the state
budget deficit: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spend less; collect more; do it now.â&#x20AC;? Good advice.
Both Democrats and Republicans now must do some growing up to
solve our stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial mess.
Holiday Fund tops $4
million â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in home stretch
T
he Palo Alto Weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Holiday Fund this year has topped the
$4 million mark of grants to local organizations providing services
to our greatest community resource: children and their families.
The fund, now in its 17th year, combines direct donations,
matching grants from local foundations and revenues from the
annual Moonlight Run to raise up to a quarter million dollars.
Virtually all funds go to local programs benefiting children
and their families, with some college scholarships. The grants are
selected by Weekly staff, who share in the pride of the fund.
We are also proud of our longstanding relationships with the
Packard and Hewlett foundations, which last year gave $32,000
and $25,000 respectively, and to the Peery and Arrillaga family
foundations, which gave $10,000 each. Donations are handled
through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
The Weekly absorbs all fundraising costs, so 100 percent of every
donation goes back into the community. Seldom has there been a
time in recent history when such community-based, communitybuilding support is needed more.
The campaign continues through January: Please join us by
checking out our website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com.
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Spectrum
Editorials, letters and opinions
Fountain finalists
Editor,
Elise DeMarzo, Manager of the
Palo Alto Public Art Commission
(PA PAC), has finally disclosed the
costs of the artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; proposals for the
California Avenue fountain. The
commission had originally refused
to reveal the price of the fountain
proposals because they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want
to sway the public vote.
Why shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fountain costs be
part of the voting equation? The
two modern fountain proposals by
Szabo and Oldland were quoted at
$49,198 and $46,050, respectively.
The Madden/Reed fountain proposal, which offers a green choice
by recycling and revitalizing the
original Cal Ave fountain, will cost
$35,000, about 30 percent less than
the other two proposals.
The commission, along with the
California Avenue Area Development Association (CAADA), tried
to replace the original fountain
with the very modern Bruce Beasley sculpture. Public outcry kept
that from happening. The commission said they will â&#x20AC;&#x153;considerâ&#x20AC;? the
pubic vote when they make their
final decision on which of the three
fountains will reside on California
Avenue. Which one do you think
they will pick?
Jan St. Peter
High Street
Palo Alto
Watching the coop
Editor,
Palo Alto has a first-class new
mayor in Sid Espinosa which raises
hopes for some real infrastructure
changes in our city in the new year.
Both Sid and Vice Mayor Yiaway
Yeh have the ability to move the city
in a positive direction.
There are a couple clouds over
this leadership change that we will
have to watch with an open mind:
1.) Both Sid and Yiaway received
significant campaigns funds from
the South Bay Labor Council, and
so their independence on union issues needs to be watched carefully.
2.) On an important union vote,
Sid was a no-show at the council
meeting, leaving Yiaway to cast the
lone vote in support of the union position. This was contrary to Mayor
Pat Burtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s noble efforts to restore
some rationale to the city-employee
benefits structure.
Residents, while we stand in support of our new leaders, please keep
your eyes open. We might expect to
see proposals such as limiting city
vendors to â&#x20AC;&#x153;prevailing wageâ&#x20AC;? contractors as early indicators of union
paybacks. (Prevailing Wage law has
nothing to do with â&#x20AC;&#x153;fair wagesâ&#x20AC;? but
feeds into a statutory formula that
creates an upward spiral on the cost
of municipal projects.)
Just remember, the entire city operations are smaller than most of the
companies that residents work for.
We just need to watch the chicken
coop to make sure there isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a fox
disguised as a rooster or hen.
With hope that this caution is unwarranted. Let the hard work begin.
We are watching.
Timothy Gray
Charleston Meadows
Palo Alto
Get rid of rail?
Editor,
Editor, It is time for the political
leaders and residents in the cities
between Santa Clara and Brisbane
to tell the California High Speed
Rail Authority goodbye and good
riddance.
The high-speed rail-project will
provide very limited benefits to the
people of the Peninsula while at the
same time causing a massive disruption during its construction.
It was not too many years ago that
the residents of San Francisco demanded the elevated Embarcadero
freeway be torn down. It was torn
down because the residents and politicians thought it was an eyesore,
hurt property values and blocked
their view of San Francisco Bay.
The politicians of Sacramento,
San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angles
and the High Speed Rail Authority
think it is OK to build this massive
eyesore in our neighborhood.
A more reasonable route would
be for high-speed rail to follow the
Union Pacificâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rail lines in the East
Bay, These rail lines run mostly
through industrial areas. Downtown San Francisco can be served
by an interchange with BART in
Oakland.
Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let them destroy our neighborhoods to satisfy their egos. The
high-speed rail system, with its massive construction costs, is almost
certainly going to be a money pit.
Government projects of this size,
rarely if ever come in on budget.
If this project had an even chance
of making money, private venture
capital and industry would be standing in line to get a piece of it.
John S. McKenna
Tramanto Drive
San Carlos
Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s news,
sports & hot picks
YOUR TURN
The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on
issues of local interest.
What do you think? Do you favor a â&#x20AC;&#x153;traditionalâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;sculpturalâ&#x20AC;? design for a new California Avenue fountain?
Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com.
Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you.
We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel
and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted.
You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town
Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read
blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any
time, day or night.
Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Publishing Co. to also publish
it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square.
For more information contact Editor Jay Thorwaldson or Online Editor Tyler
Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.
Answers to this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s puzzles, which can be found on page 40
Woodland
School
Support Local Business
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A weekly compendium of vital statistics
Palo Alto
Jan. 4-10
Martin A. Agueret
Martin entered into rest on December 27th, 2010.
A proud native San Franciscan, Martin was born on
December 6, 1920. He was an alumnus of Lowell High
School in S.F. Martin delivered the San Francisco News
as a paperboy in the 1930â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Martin turned 21 on the eve
of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in the Army
during WWII and worked for the Marine Corps, retiring
at Age 50. Martin was a lifelong Giants and 49ers fan.
Martin was preceded in death by his father Martin
Sr., and his mother Emelie. Martin was proud of
his French-Basque heritage and traveled extensively
including many trips to Europe and the Pyrenees where
he still has a large extended family. Martin loved his
Palo Alto community and volunteered for many years
in the Library. He was most honored to have had the
opportunity to assist the Palo Alto Police Department
as a volunteer where he still holds a city record for
his hours given. God bless you Martin, you were a
gentleman and a sweet wonderful soul.
Funeral services with military honors were held
Saturday, January 8th, 2011 at Roller Hapgood & Tinney
Funeral Home â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 980 MiddleďŹ eld Road â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Palo Alto.
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Robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Theft related
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Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Vehicle related
Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Roller
&
Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .5
Vehicle accident/damage . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Alcohol or drug related
Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Miscellaneous
Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . .1
Hapgood
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Tinney
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and Cremation Service Provider
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Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .1
Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Menlo Park
Violence related
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Theft related
Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Vehicle related
Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .3
Driving without license . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .2
Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .3
Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Alcohol or drug related
Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Miscellaneous
Coroner case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .2
Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
VIOLENT CRIMES
Palo Alto
Ben Lomond Drive, 1/10, 21:18 p.m.; robbery.
Menlo Park
Del Mundo Street, 1/5, 6:28 p.m.; battery.
Hamilton Avenue, 1/10, 5:55 p.m.; battery.
Sherrie Wilkins
Sharon Louise Fasola Wilkins was born on September 30, 1942
and peacefully passed away on December 25, 2010 surrounded by
her loving family and pets. Sherrie was a wife, mother and medical
professional who lived with breast cancer since 1992 and with itsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
metastases since 2003.
Sherrie was a strong proponent of providing needed support to women
with breast cancer through her afďŹ liations with societies and non-proďŹ t
organizations. Sherrie obtained her RN degree from Queen of Angels
Nursing School in Los Angeles, her BS in Nursing from Los Angeles State
College, her MS in Nursing and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Education
from UCSF and her Ph.D. in Microbiology from UCSF. After UCSF she
received a medical fellowship to Stanford University to study genetic
diseases in children. She then went to Genentech where she started
in the laboratory but then found her calling in hiring and pulling
together high caliber talent in the different research settings. Sherrie
also held executive positions in numerous biotechnology, health care
organizations, i.e. Stanford Medical Center, UCSF, Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital
Los Angeles, Lucille Packard Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital. She also served in
executive capacity in organizations such as Heartport, Cholostech,
Cytokinetics and other biotechnology organizations.
In 2003, Sherrie medically retired from corporate life and turned her
attention to both the medical and spiritual sides of breast cancer, spending
her time at Breast Cancer Connections in Palo Alto and her church,
Companions on the Journey in Palo Alto. Sherrie could always be counted
on to provide a sunny and cheerful attitude towards her medical situation
and was a comfort to everyone around her. In addition to taking on
numerous leadership roles at her church, Sherrie was nominated by Breast
Cancer Connections to be honored as one of 16 Volunteers in Santa Clara
County selected for the prestigious Glass Bowl Award in 2007. In 2009 she
was awarded with the Distinguished Professional Award for her work with the
Association of Women in Science, which she was the former President of for
the Palo Alto Chapter.
She will be missed by all who have come in contact with her and
especially missed by her husband Sid and daughter Amy. Beyond all her
achievements, she was kind, compassionate, and loving to all those she
encountered.
In lieu of ďŹ&#x201A;owers, donations can be made to either Breast Cancer
Connections, 390 Cambridge Ave. Palo Alto, Ca. 94306 or Companions
on the Journey, P.O. Box 60195, Palo Alto, Ca. 94306
PA I D
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O B I T UA RY
Transitions
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC
ÂŁÂ&#x2122;nxĂ&#x160;Â&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;,Â&#x153;>`]Ă&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Â­Ă&#x2C6;xĂ¤ÂŽĂ&#x160;nxĂ&#x2C6;Â&#x2021;Ă&#x2C6;Ă&#x2C6;Ă&#x2C6;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Â°vVVÂŤ>Â°Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;}Ă&#x160;
-Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;`>Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;7Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x192;Â&#x2026;Â&#x2C6;ÂŤĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;`Ă&#x160;-Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;`>Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;-VÂ&#x2026;Â&#x153;Â&#x153;Â?Ă&#x160;>Ă&#x152;Ă&#x160;ÂŁĂ¤\Ă¤Ă¤Ă&#x160;>Â°Â&#x201C;Â°
This Sunday: Lighten Up
Rev. Dr. Eileen Altman preaching
An Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ
INSPIRATIONS
A resource for special events and ongoing religious
services. To inquire about or make space reservations
for Inspirations, please contact
Blanca Yoc at 223-6596
or email byoc@paweekly.com
Deaths
Norman Duvall
Norman Duvall, 78, a resident of
Menlo Park, died Dec. 24.
He was born in Battle Creek,
Mich., and graduated from Michigan
State University as
an ROTC member.
He was honorably
discharged from the
United States Army
with the rank of 1st
Lieutenant.
He spent his last
43 years in Menlo
Park, where he and his wife Eileen
raised their family. He had a long
and successful career as an executive at Potlatch Corporation. He was
an avid golfer, World War II film
buff, and master of the daily crossword. He enjoyed fishing, watching
football and baseball (especially
when his sons were playing), loved
dogs and a good belly laugh, loved
ones said. Friends and family often
described him as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the life of the
party.â&#x20AC;?
He is survived by his wife of 47
years, Eileen Ann Duvall; his sons,
Farley Cash Duvall and Derek Norman Duvall; two grandchildren; Lili
the Labrador; and many friends.
A memorial lunch will be held
Saturday, Jan. 29, from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. at Harryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hofbrau in Redwood City.
Cover Story
A mural by John McQuarrie, depicting Leland Stanford in an Old West setting, resides in the waiting room of the Downtown
Palo Alto Caltrain station.
A ceramic piece by Pablo Picasso is displayed in the
City Clerkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office on the seventh floor of the Palo
Alto City Hall.
Sculptures, paintings are at home in the urban environment
few Caltrain patrons filtered
through the downtown Palo Alto
station on a recent Monday, one ordering a coffee from CaffĂŠ del Doge, some
checking their phones. No one seemed to
be looking up at the John McQuarrie mural
depicting scenes from California history
gracing the wall above, but the painting
has been there since the early 1940s, providing a touch of art to the mid-morning
commute.
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the many murals, sculptures
and other artworks amongst the stores,
streets and offices around town. Sometimes
theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in unexpected locations such as on
a traffic median, storm-water pump station
or parking-lot wall. Next door to the traditional train-station mural is a futuristic,
color-changing LED installation at the bus
depot. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even a genuine Picasso piece
on the seventh floor of City Hall.
Love it or hate it, in Palo Alto, art is all
around.
Encountering art out in the urban landscape, such as on the wall of a CVS drugstore in Midtown, â&#x20AC;&#x153;keeps you smiling. If
you see it with a child or with a visitor to
your town then theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll remember that as an
extra attraction,â&#x20AC;? Terry Acebo Davis, a local artist and the current chair of the Palo
Alto Public Art Commission, said.
In many cases, art pieces seen around
town are part of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Art in Public Places program. The program, which
currently boasts 326 works, started in 1975
and consists of pieces displayed on the
exteriors of city-owned buildings, within
city buildings, in open public areas or purchased with city funds. Approximately 70
pieces in the current collection are installed
outdoors. The program is overseen by the
Public Art Commission, a group appointed
by the City Council.
The process of selecting and installing
public art varies from piece to piece. In
many cases, a business with room for and
interest in art approaches the city and its art
commission for assistance, and the city and
business share the costs.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;For a business with a big, blank wall, a
(continued on next page)
Left, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Streaming,â&#x20AC;? by local artist Ceevah Sobel, adorns the San Francisquito Creek
stormwater pump station on East Bayshore Road. Right, Palo Alto has numerous works
by muralist Greg Brown, including â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Ornidontistâ&#x20AC;? on Middlefield Road.
*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;U Page 13
Cover Story
Left, Marta Thomaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Light and Imaginationâ&#x20AC;? installation surrounds the Palo Alto Utilities Department on Alma
Street. Right, Stanford Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Guinea sculpture garden contains such works as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kura,â&#x20AC;? by New Guinean
Teddy Balangu.
(continued from previous page)
mural is really its best bet as an anti-graffiti
measure,â&#x20AC;? as well as for sprucing up the
look of a building, said Elise DeMarzo,
staff liaison to the Public Art Commission.
When a business decides it wants to create a joint venture with the city to house an
artwork, or the city wants to place one in a
park or plaza, the physical environment of
the site is considered before the particular
art piece is selected.
Because public art is often exposed to the
elements and less protected than museum
art, maintenance costs must be considered.
The commission currently has a budget
of $25,000 annually, which in part covers
maintenance costs.
Sometimes the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Architectural Review Board is also involved in the planning
and approval process.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;With anything that has a big visual impact on the area itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wise to go through city
channels,â&#x20AC;? DeMarzo said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone has a definition of what they
think art is. The challenge for us is that
the art commission has to be the voice for
the whole city,â&#x20AC;? Acebo Davis said. Though
some of the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choices have
been controversial, she said public art is an
essential part of municipal culture.
The San Francisquito Creek Stormwater
Pump Station, decorated in 2009 with the
water-themed installation â&#x20AC;&#x153;Streamingâ&#x20AC;? by
artist Ceevah Sobel, is an example of how
art can spring up in surprising spots.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Someone could get on their bike and go
from art piece to art piece; what a great
tour that would be,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Acebo Davis, who said sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d eventually
like to see public art installed in every city
park, said aesthetic tastes change from one
generation to the next and that future projects could consist of digital installations
and projections rather than the more traditional murals and sculptures. Interactivity
will be an important quality in public art of
the future, too.
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Everyone has a definition of
what they think art is. The
challenge for us is that the art
commission has to be the voice
for the whole city.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Terry Acebo Davis, local artist
and current chair of the Palo Alto
Public Art Commission
â&#x20AC;&#x153;If the public has something to say there
are ways to make their voices heard. We
listen; the news gets back to us,â&#x20AC;? she said,
adding that the commission is currently
soliciting public input on the three finalists for the California Avenue fountain
project.
The commissioners hear their share of
criticism from members of the public who
donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care for their artistic choices.
One such critic is resident Alexis Hamilton, who considered the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection
while visiting the Papua New Guinea sculpture garden at Stanford University.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Inner Lives of Teenagers,â&#x20AC;? by
Elizabeth Lada, can be seen on the wall
of the CVS pharmacy on Middlefield
Road.
TALK ABOUT IT
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
What is your opinion of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public art?
Share your thoughts on Palo Alto Online
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Cover Story
INFUSING SPECTACULAR HANDCRAFTED
EYEWEAR WITH WORLD CLASS OPTICS
TRUNK SHOW
Saturday, January 22, 11am-6pm
Featuring Zero G and David Yurman
Eyewear
Byxbee Park is home to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wind Wave Pieceâ&#x20AC;? by Peter Richards, along with other environmental-art
installations.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palo Alto takes its public art too seriously. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
so cerebral, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no fun to it, except for the
sculpture outside of the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s museum. I really
loved the sculpture â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Foreign Friendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; from our sister
city in LinkĂśping, Sweden, before it was vandalized
and got rid of. It was so charming, wonderful and
human, now all the art is so technological â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it lacks
humanity,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Acebo Davis said artists are aware that not every
piece will please everyone and that what matters is
that a piece spark interest and conversation.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;If it can make people talk, then itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good,â&#x20AC;? she
said. N
Open 7 Days A Week
Joanne Hu, OD - VSP Provider - 650.321.3382
2750 Middlefield Road, Midtown Palo Alto
www.ubereyes.com
Editorial Assistant Karla Kane can be e-mailed
at kkane@paweekly.com.
Staff Photographer Veronica Weber can be emailed at vweber@paweekly.com
On the cover: Herons and flowers face El
Camino Real on the wall of the Stanford
Terrace Inn. Artist Florence Goguely painted
the nature-themed mural in 2009.
Above left, A witch doctor
casts out devils on the walls of
the former Palo Alto Medical
Foundation and future home
of the Palo Alto History
Museum. The murals, by Victor
Arnautoff, were controversial
when they debuted in 1932.
Below, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Neededâ&#x20AC;? by Thai Bui
marks the entryway to Adobe
Creek at El Camino Real.
Join us at our beautiful Albert & Janet Schultz
Cultural Arts Hall for our second scintillating season!
The False Friend, Capriccio Chamber Orchestra, Jeff Sanford Jazz
JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS
The Great Broadway Sing-Along
Jewish Songwriters of Broadway
Saturday, January 22 at 8:00 PM
Author Myla Goldberg
The False Friend
Thursday, January 27 at 7:00 PM
Capriccio Chamber Orchestra
Sunday, January 30 at 3:00 PM
COMING IN FEBRUARY
Jeff Sanford Jazz
Part of the Singles Arts CafĂŠ
Thursday, February 3 at 7:30 PM
To purchase tickets, visit
www.paloaltojcc.org/arts
or call (650) 223-8699.
Oshman Family JCC
3921 Fabian Way
Palo Alto, CA | (650) 223-8699
*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;U Page 15
Arts & Entertainment
A weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace
SPIRALING
SAPLINGS
Todd Mulvihill
SCULPTOR WEAVES TREES INTO FANCIFUL VISIONS
Veronica Weber
Page 16Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;
Duncan Price
Patrick Dougherty has turned hundreds of artistic visions
into tree sculptures, and now heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creating a new work at the
Palo Alto Art Center (pictured above). Past works include
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Uff Da Palaceâ&#x20AC;? at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in
Chaska, above right, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Call of the Wildâ&#x20AC;? at the Museum
of Glass in Tacoma, Wash., right.
W
by Rebecca Wallace
hatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the mysterious
construction project
taking shape on the
grounds of the Palo
Alto Art Center?
Willow saplings, sticks and twigs
are being planted and intertwined
on the grass facing Newell Road.
Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fencing and scaffolding, and
a white-haired man with a pleasant
North Carolina accent directing it
all.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s row houses,â&#x20AC;? Patrick Dougherty says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;in a zig-zag pattern.â&#x20AC;?
In a way, yes. This fanciful framework will ultimately be a sculpture
with architectural flair, dreamed
up by a prominent environmental
artist. Dougherty has created hundreds of site-specific installations
that resemble palaces, playhouses,
faces and other shapes. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worked
in Ireland rain, thigh-high snow at
Smith College, and desert heat. Row
houses in Palo Alto must be easier on
the constitution.
Doughertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s medium of choice
is trees. Usually willows, like the
tractor-trailer load that was brought
to Palo Alto from a Pescadero farm.
But sometimes maple, rose apple or
even bamboo will do.
The artist draws inspiration from
each site, then plans out a sculpture
with sketches and word associations.
He and his helpers build a base of
sticks that grows up into a sort of
shell. Then that shape becomes a
canvas for patterns of sticks, twigs
and greenery.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a line logic in play, some
kind of rationale,â&#x20AC;? Dougherty says in
an interview at the art center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Like
a beaverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dam. The sticks bunch up
like there are forces at play.â&#x20AC;?
Some of his sculptures feel like
theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been swirled by a storm, or
simply windswept. Titles include
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jug or Naught,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spinoffsâ&#x20AC;? and
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Toad Hall.â&#x20AC;?
This month, Dougherty will be
creating at the Palo Alto Art Center
through Jan. 28 during a three-week
artist residency. All his sculptures,
he says, take three weeks to build.
His current site struck him for several reasons: the length of the grassy
expanse, the intimate feel created
by overhanging trees, and the nearness to houses. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It seemed like we
do have urbanization in some ways,â&#x20AC;?
he says.
Hence, he created a hybrid. The
front of the long tree sculpture will
have the whimsical, green row-house
feel, with big circles like picture
windows. The back will feel more
natural and down-to-earth, he says.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll feel like youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come to an
indigenous setting, where thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
hunting and gathering going on.â&#x20AC;?
Dougherty encourages people to
get close to his sculptures; here, visitors will be able to stroll inside and
peer out the front â&#x20AC;&#x153;windows.â&#x20AC;? While
a fence has been up during the early
part of construction, he plans to take
it down soon so passers-by can get
a good look at the process and ask
questions. Even during this interview, Dougherty gets into several
conversations with curious visitors.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want a barrier with people,â&#x20AC;?
he says.
Dougherty has also clearly connected well with the art-center staff,
several of whom are outside helping
him.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were so thrilled that someone
of his stature came here,â&#x20AC;? curator
Signe Mayfield says. The art center
foundation commissioned the proj-
ect, which was co-sponsored by the
Palo Alto Public Art Commission
and also fueled by a federal grant
from the Institute of Museum and
Library Services.
Besides being a fan of Doughertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
work, Mayfield is also impressed by
the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organization. Before the
building started, Dougherty sent
over pages and pages of text describing his scaffolding needs and other
details.
Jan. 11, the first day of Doughertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work on the art-center grounds,
brought rain, but no one working in
the damp grass seemed fazed.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always something,â&#x20AC;?
Dougherty says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You kind of have
to be an all-weather person.â&#x20AC;?
A sense of humor is also essential, and a driving creative force behind these storybook-like creations.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sticks are so tied into our psyche,â&#x20AC;?
he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kids play with sticks. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a
magic wand, a piece of a house.â&#x20AC;?
Dougherty, a longtime lover of
nature and carpentry, started building small sculptures in his backyard around 1980, and then grew
from there. He seeks out local and
renewable saplings to use, and is
based in his handmade log house in
North Carolina, where he lives with
his family. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s come to California
many times; sites of past projects
include the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, the San
Jose Museum of Art, a private home
in Portola Valley and the San Diego
Wild Animal Park.
Several photos of Doughertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
work are now on display inside the
Palo Alto Art Center as part of a new
exhibition called â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Nature of Entanglements.â&#x20AC;? The show also features
contemporary basketry and other
works inspired by intertwined forms
of nature, by artists GyĂśngy Laky,
Ruth Asawa, Timothy Berry, Dominic Di Mare and Kay Sekimachi.
Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a space for visitors
to make their own contributions to
a weaving and wrapping art project,
and a small show of bottle-house
sculptures by Berkeley artist Mildred
Howard. Howard is also planning an
Eichler-inspired sculpture at the art
center in the spring.
The shows are open through March
31. The art center will close April 1
for renovations.
Outside, though, Doughertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new
installation is set to stay up through
Jan. 30, 2012. Most of his sapling
works, he says, could last about two
years, but â&#x20AC;&#x153;wear and tear might end
their life sooner.â&#x20AC;?
He adds with a smile, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You try to
Peace
Corps
Celebrating 50 Years
of International Service
www.peacecorps.gov
800.424.8580
Palo Alto Information Session:
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 6:30PM
Lucie Stern Center, Fireside Room
1305 MiddleďŹ eld Rd
77 Countries. No Cost. Great BeneďŹ ts!
Deborahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Palm, a Non-ProďŹ t Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Community Center,
located in downtown Palo Alto presents a forum entitled:
take them down while they still look
good.â&#x20AC;? N
What: Environmental sculptor Patrick
Dougherty is creating a new Palo Alto
work during an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residency.
Where: Palo Alto Art Center, 1313
Newell Road.
When: Dougherty is working on the site
from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through
Jan. 28, possibly with the weekend of
Jan. 22-23 off. Call the art center at
650-329-2366.
Cost: Free
Info: Go to cityofpaloalto.org/artcenter.
Dougherty will also give a free talk at
the art center from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 27.
Winter exhibitions are up through
March 31. Gallery hours are Tuesday
through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m., Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m., and
Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m.
Ecole internationale de la PĂŠninsule
Ě˝
ŕŁ&#x2018;
ŕŠ˘
á&#x201E;&#x2018;
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WHEN ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S YOUR CHILD,
EXPERIENCE MATTERS.
PRE-SCHOOL
Outstanding fullday program.
LANGUAGE
Longest running
bilingual
immersion school
in the area.
Experienced
native-speaking
faculty.
TEACHING MANDARIN CHINESE IMMERSION FOR 15 YEARS. A LEADER
IN FRENCH IMMERSION IN PALO ALTO.
ACCEPTING PRE-SCHOOL APPLICATIONS.
REGISTER FOR A TOUR TODAY.
ACADEMICS
Established English
curriculum.
Rigorous program
in a nurturing
environment. Low
student-to-teacher
ratio.
OPEN HOUSE/INFO SESSIONS
January 8, 2011
RSVP FOR ADMISSIONS TOURS AND INFO NIGHTS IN ON OUR WEBSITE
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE PENINSULA
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